MORRISON
MESSAGE

PREMIER ONLINE EDITION 12/00

www.seorf.ohiou.edu/~xx036/homepage.html

" A WINTER MUSIC PROGRAM" Parents
and interested friends are invited to attend "A Winter Music Program" being
presented on Tuesday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m.by students in Pre-School
through grade 3 under the direction of teacher, Michele Hayes. Students
should arrive at 6:45 and go directly to their classrooms. The show
occurs in our gym. Additional
parking is available next door at the Athens Church of Christ.P.T.O. SPONSORS SANTA'S WORKSHOP Santa's
Workshop arrives at Morrison onDecember 7. Students will view the
various gifts available for purchase on that day and then return onFriday,
December 8, to make their purchases. A price list will be sent home
to parents on Thursday. Directing
this P.T.O. fund raising activity are Susan Williford and and Una
GilfertKIDS NEXT DOOR SING AT
UNIVERSITY MALL The
Morrison "Kids Next Door" will perform their holiday show at the University
Mall on Monday, December 11, at 6:15. We invite all Morrison families
and friends to attend and hear the melodic sounds of these young singers
under the direction of Michele Hayes. Their performance is guaranteed
to entertain and brighten your holiday spirits.NEW MORRISON WEB SITE NOW ONLINE A new
and improved Morrison Web Page is now online. The revised page was
a collaborative effort between teacher, Heather Sammons and principal,
John Gordon. Included on the site is information pertaining to: Calendar
of Events, Mission Statement, History of Morrison, Honors, Curriculum,
Technology, Land Lab, Library, School Improvements, Special Events, Annual
Report, Student Organizations, Parent/P.T.O., and more. Also, we
are pleased to announce that this edition of the Morrison Message can be
found on our web page. Later, various grade levels will be linked to our
web page under the heading Classroom News. The web site address is listed
near the top of this page. You are invited to visit our web site
often.STUDENT COUNCIL ELECTED Student
council members were elected by our voters and took their oaths of office
on November 10. Oaths were administered by Athens Mayor Ric Abel. Council
members are: President, Emily Thatcher; Vice President, Emily Climer; Secretary,
Madison Cooley; Treasurer Rebekah Grippa; Sergeant at Arms, Matthew Witten;
Room Representatives - 4th Megan McCoy, Bethany Miller, Daniel Rankin;
5th-Doug Chiki, Mary Jane Giesey, Christina Wince; 6th- Kirk Harper, Erin
Herpy, and Olivia Sole. We
commend our newly elected council members and wish them a good year. Serving
as advisors to council are teachers, Lesley Michigan and Heidi Mullins.SNOWFLAKE SHAKE Student
council will sponsor a SNOWFLAKE SHAKE dance on Wednesday, December 6,
from 6:30 - 8:00. All current Morrison students are invited to attend
Morrison's first dance of the school year. Admission is only .50
per student. Refreshments will be sold by student council while Rockin
Reggie spins the tunes. Parents should pick their sons or daughters
up promptly at 8:00 in the gym. For the protection of students, we
do not permit students to wait outside or to leave the school without being
accompanied by a parent. We
look forward to seeing your child at the SNOWFLAKE SHAKE on Wednesday,
December 6, from 6:30-8:00 p.m.BOXTOPS ! A big THANK
YOU goes to all of our Morrison families. The Box Tops for Education Program
has already raised687.00 for our school. Way to go!
For those unfamiliar, this program works by families simply clipping the
box top logos from General Mills cereals and sending them to school. We appreciate
everyone's support with this fund raising project. If you have questions,
contact chairperson, Margie Innis at 594-4193.VETERANS' DAY OBSERVANCE A Veterans'
Day Observance was held at Morrison on November 10, to honor all American
veterans because "freedom isn't free." The program featured our "Kids Next
Door" who sang two versions of America and the National Anthem.
Guest speaker was Mr. John Montgomery, a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S.
Air Force during Vietnam. The Morrison Flag Patrol demonstrated how
to properly fold a flag and then ran the colors up the school's flag pole
as the entire student body watched in a respectful manner. We
thank Judy Barrows for inviting our speaker, Michele Hayes for directing
the Kids Next Door, and Sabrina Kotts for organizing the Veterans' Day
program and directing the flag patrol.PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARDS A total
of 162 students had perfectattendance during the first grading period.
We commend these young people and their families for their interest in
education. To
receive a perfect attendance award, students need to be at school every
day. Children who have medical or dental appointments must bring
a note from the doctor or dentist stating that they had an appointment
that day.
We thank parent, Kathryn Bolin for her fine work in preparing attendance
awards and collecting prizes from supportive local businesses including:
Taco John, KFC, Burger King, Ponderosa, and O.U. Athletics.STUDENTS NEED TO DRESS
FOR RECESS Unless
precipitation is falling, students WILL GO OUTSIDE FOR RECESS when the
temperature is 20 degrees or above, and the wind chill factor is acceptable.
We do go outside when snow is on the ground. Healthy children need
outdoor physical activity and a break from classroom routine. Thus,
please make sure that your child comes to school with the proper clothing
for recess including: a winter coat, gloves/mittens, attire for the head,
and boots when it snows.PICTURE RETAKE DAY Picture
re-takes will occur on Tuesday, December 12, between the hours of 11:15
- 2:15 for those students who were absent or dissatisfied with their original
pictures. To participate in this re-take session, students need to
return their original picture packages to the school office.GRANDPARENTS / VERY SPECIAL
FRIENDS DAY Our
annual day to recognize grandparents and very special friends occurs on
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, beginning at 9:15 and concluding at about 12:45. There
is no school on Friday, April 13, so grandparents may enjoy their grandchildren
for an additional day if that fits our families' schedules. Yearly,
we have about 250-270 grandparents from a dozen or more states
that attend this event at Morrison. Thus, we wanted to
announce the date early so that reservations could be
made. We request that parents communicate this information to grandparents
and very special friends.FLAG PATROL BEGINS DUTIESFlag patrol members have been
busy learning flag decorum as they raise and lower the American and Ohio
flags daily in front of Morrison. Under the direction of teacher,
Sabrina Kotts, flag patrol members for 2000-01 are: Team Red-Ellie Andrews,
Shane Bugeja, Ilona Carlson, Ben Innis, Bethany Miller and Jordan Scali,
alternate; TeamWhite -Alissa Hyde, Megan McCoy, Andera Pierson, John Siemer,
Michelle Wiggens, and Christopher Ipacs, alternate; Team Blue - Jesse Adams,
Kara Endick, Andriana Lein, Catherine Meyer, Kasie Sweeney, and Rochelle
Withem, alternate.PARENTS ARE FIRST LINE OF SUPERVISON Parents
are the first line of supervision for children. Thus, we encourage
all of you to carefully monitor the behavior of your sons and daughters,
to keep the lines of communication open with them, and to know who your
children's friends happen to be at any particular time. In
addition, students at Morrison and their parents are encouraged to report
concerns they have regarding overheard conversations, threats made, suspicious
activity, or any items being brought to school that should not be in the
building. Please let teachers, the principal, and law enforcement
authorities know of your concerns and observations as quickly as possible.ASTHMA Asthma
is a medical condition that affects some of our students. House Bill 121,
which became effective last year permits a student to carry his/her inhaler
at school. The law states that the student must have written permission
of a parent and written instructions from the prescribing physician.
The doctor's statement must include all the information regarding prescription
medication to be administered at school PLUS any adverse reaction that
might occur for unauthorized use. Call the school office if you are
interested in an authorization form.MEDICATION CAN'T BE GIVEN TO
STUDENTS UNLESS... Parents
are reminded that we will NOT administer medication of any kind to
students unless the proper forms have been signed by a physician and/or
parents and the forms are on file in the school office. With the
colds and flu season upon us, it is recommended that parents complete the
proper paperwork so that their children may receive the required medication.MUSTANG YEARBOOK The Morrison
Mustang Yearbook staff consisting of sixth graders is hard at work preparing
the 2000-01 yearbook. Staff members meet weekly to prepare this year's
edition which will again feature a hard cover and contain 56 fantastic
pages of memories suitable for autographing.RETURN SCRIPT SURVEY, PLEASE Our
P.T.O. is currently considering participation in a Script Program.
This involves parents and interested friends buying gift certificates,
gift cards, or using cards provided by participating stores to claim store
donations for Morrison. Participating stores sell the Script to the
Morrison P.T.O. for a reduced rate. The P.T.O. then sells the
certificates for face value (i.e. you pay 25.00 for 25.00
worth of script.) When you use the Script at a store, our P.T.O. receives
a certain percentage of the sale. The school earns money and you finish
your Christmas shopping. Thus, if you are going to spend money anyway,
it may be a good idea to use script so that your child's school can also
benefit. Everyone wins! The Script program is not just
limited to the holiday season. The certificates or cards are honored
at stores throughout the year. If
you believe that your family might use the Script Program, please be sure
to complete the survey sent home on Thursday, November 30, and return itquickly
to Morrison. Members
of the Script Steering Committee are parents: Traci Lawrence, Betty Sindelar,
Liz Luehrman, Cathy Bruggeman, and Janis Schriner.CLINE REPEATS AS CHAMP Morrison
custodian, Paul Cline repeated as a champion motorcycle rider in 2000.
Riding a Yamaha bike, he was senior champion in the District 11 Hare Scramble,
Champion in the AMA-FMF National Enduro Series Senior B, and Champion in
the District 11 Enduro Senior B. Paul
plans to ride in the Grand National Cross Country Series in 2001. Congratulations,
Paul on your championship rides and best of luck next year.

FIRST GRADE NEWS Mrs.
Brooks' first graders have been busy studying the important life skill
of respect. The children have been learning that it is not only important
to show respect for themselves but also for others. They have discovered
that sharing, listening, and good manners are excellent ways to be respectful
of others. The
first graders in Mrs. Stork's class participated in National Children's
Book Week, November 13-17. Some of the activities included showing
a favorite book, swapping books, reading a favorite poem and wearing a
shirt with words on it. Mrs.
Porterfield's class just completed a unit on citizenship in their study
of character development. Discussions included what it means to be
a good citizen, rights and responsibilities of citizens including the right
to vote, and how cooperation is important to making a community work.
Students extended these discussions with writing "How I can be a good citizen
at school," conducting a vote for class mascot, and retelling the story
of The Little Red Hen. All first graders will travel to Stuart's
Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio on Thursday, December 14th. They
will be enjoying a heartwarming musical performance of ‘Twas the Night
Before Christmas.

FOURTH GRADE CELEBRATES THE PUMPKIN!How does one measure the circumference
of a pumpkin? Does the thickness of a pumpkin's skin have a correlation
to the number of seeds it has? Can one find information about pumpkins
on the Internet? These
questions and many more were explored and examined by the fourth graders
during the week of November 6-10, 2000. Under the direction of teachers
Kelly Fork,Sabrina Kotts, and Heather Sammons, the fourth graders used
pumpkins for everything from physical education games, to topics for literature
and word studies, writing of pumpkin poetry and pumpkin journals, pumpkin
math, and pumpkin science. The
week ended with a feast of pumpkin pie which was made by the students.
Students did everything from learning to double a recipe, to how to measure
and mix the ingredients, and finally making the mathematical decisions
as to how to best use fractions to divide the pies so that everyone got
the largest piece possible without wasting any of their delicious, culinary
creations. The
week turned out to be a perfectly, pleasant, and plentiful pumpkin experience
for all!

PRESCHOOL NEWS What
a fantastic feast we had in Mrs. Williford's preschool class! Parents,
siblings, and friends joined the preschoolers on Tuesday, November 21,
for a fabulous Fall Harvest Feast. Each family contributed one of
their favorite traditional foods for the celebration and a variety of different
nationalities and traditions were represented. The array of goodies
was truly awesome, and a yummy time was had by all. The
students are now turning their attention to their musical debut in Morrison's
music program on Dec. 5, at 7:00 p.m. Parents are invited to attend
this wintermusical event.

FIFTH GRADE IS FUN!!SCIENCE NEWS!!!Mrs. Conroy's class created
"Incredible Invertebrate" projects! They were displayed for the entire
school to view at the bottom of the center stairs. Each student chose
an invertebrate to research and then prepared three hands-on projects to
"share" in interesting ways all that they had learned. Topics included
the butterfly, the sea cucumber, the scorpion, the grasshopper, the earthworm,
the tick, the starfish, the giant squid, the praying mantis, and the black
widow spider. Examples of student projects prepared were 3-D models,
board games based on facts, information-filled books in the shape of the
animal, and detailed and labeled drawings. Many compliments
were received from students and teachers throughout the school. Well
done! Mrs.
VanDyke's class completed vertebrate research reports. Students used
MLA standards which included note cards, source cards, outline, and works
cited. Following are some of the interesting excerpts from the reports: "I
am a really good game bird, which can provide a lot of sporting activities,
and I am not bad to eat either! But you better be on your toes if
you think you are going to get me." (Turkeys, by Shay Brooks.) "I
also use my snout for sniffing out food and nuzzle-kissing my friends".
(Walruses, by Elizabeth Stein.) "Giraffes
usually give birth to one baby called a calf. Sometimes two calves
will be born. Luckily, I am an only calf." (Giraffes, by Erin
Mazzocca.) "You
just stab my family and friends with a really sharp needle-like device
and feed me to the fish! How would you like it if I did that
to you! I'll let you off the hook this time! Ha! Ha!" (Earthworms,
by Christina Wince)"As you can see I am a mean,
green, fighting machine. That might be why crocodiles have lasted
since the days of the dinosaurs." (Crocodiles, by Stephen Bartone). "We
can even live about one week without our heads. Then the only reason
we die is because we have lost our mouth and can't drink water. Humans
will never get rid of us!" (Cockroach, by Rebekah Grippa). "I
recently met a very old monarch butterfly and he told me some very interesting
facts." (Butterfly, by Katherine Chen).FIELD TRIPS! We
have several upcoming field trips. On Tuesday, December 12, we will
be doing our community service project and visiting Hickory Creek Nursing
Home. Students will be delivering their handmade craft gifts to the
residents. We will also be sharing the gift of song as we sing the traditional
carols with them. On
Thursday, December 14, we will again be traveling to the historic Stuart
Opera House in Nelsonville to see a live performance of the play "Twas
the Night Before Christmas". Both classes write poetry in December
and this will be one of our culminating activities. On October 26, we enjoyed
the live performance of "The Ugly Duckling". This was the culminating
activity for the fifth grade October unit on Fairy Tales. Please
watch for permission slips coming home. They will need to be
signed and returned as soon as possible. Parents are reminded, at
the request of the teachers, that instead of buying Christmas gifts for
the teachers, kids may donate hats or mittens that will be distributed
to the needy. These hats or mittens can be given to Mrs. VanDyke or Mrs.
Conroy at any time.GUEST SPEAKERS! Grade
5 has been privileged to have many guest speakers in science and math so
far this year! In science, Dr. Scott Moody and Dr. Larry Witmer
visited to share their expertise on animals with vertebrates. In
math, Dr. Lee (Sophia Chen's mother), shared her skills using an abacus.MATH WEB SITE A great
web site is now available for students needing additional practice or enrichment
for math skills that is tied together with science and social studies.
It is maintained by the publisher of our math series, Scott Foresman-Addison
Wesley. The site URL is: www.mathsurf.com/5/ch1
(or whatever math chapter for which you desire extra work). Keep
in mind that workbook pages can also be used for extra practice.BONJOUR! PARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS??? Fifth
graders had a wonderful time learning to speak French! We were pleased
with the efforts and results of the two O.U. students who worked with our
students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These students were Justin Hill
and Annie Cusack! We will miss them! Merci beaucoup!WOODLAND ALTARS! Just
a reminder! Our three full-day outdoor education classes will be
in Peebles, Ohio, on May 23-25, at Camp Woodland Altars. The price
for the seven meals and two nights lodging is $90.00 per child. Payment
dates and more details will be sent home as the time draws nearer.

SIXTH GRADE HAPPENINGSIn the mood for politics?
We were. A special thanks to Kat Carpenter for arranging Lisa Eliason's
visit regarding her campaign for state representative. The students
learned how to run a "grass roots" campaign.A profitable cupcake sale...thank
you to sixth grade parents for donating cupcakes for our Sixth Grade Spirit
fundraiser. The money earned will contribute to part of the class
gift sixth will purchase for Morrison.Sharpen your spelling skills...the
written spelling bee qualifier will be given Monday, December 4th.
The top 30 students will participate in the Spelling Bee in February.
Good luck.lThink globally, act locally
by sending in canned goods with your children for the Sixth Grade canned
food drive. We will happily accept canned goods through December
18th.It's electrifying! On
Tuesday, Dec. 5, sixth grade will tour AEP Mountaineer electric power
plant. This will kick off our science unit on energy. Thanks
to Mr. Patrick Hale for arranging this trip.

KINDERGARTEN HAS FUN WITH WRITE
TRACK Every
week Kindergarten students study a different letter. During the week
we studied the letter "P", students had fun with the word pizza.
Children read fictional and non-fictional books about pizza. They clustered
the word pizza by naming words that had to do with pizza. Students made
paper pizzas and completed a math paper that had them count the different
toppings on pizza. Each child made his/her own pizza and ate
it for snack. At the close of the unit, we did "I am a pizza."
The children pretended they were a pizza and told what they heard, saw,
felt, and wanted. The
week of "I" we talked about Indians . We read books and clustered
the word Indian. Each child made his/her own headdress and vest with
Indian writings. The children completed the sentences "I am
an Indian." and "I can ____."(Fill in the blank with a word
from the cluster). To
have a better understanding of Thanksgiving, we brain
stormed what each child was thankful for and wrote them on
a large paper turkey. Each child completed, "I am thankful
for ________ ." We read a book, The First Thanksgiving,and made
Pilgrim hats, butter, pudding, popcorn, and ate cornbread. We all
ate together with our Pilgrim hats on and enjoyed our first Kindergarten
feast. It was a fun time!